Week 13 Prompt

I work as an assistant to the librarian in an elementary school, and we sometimes discuss the merit of graphic novels, but as it relates to children. Just today, I had a student bring back a graphic novel he had just checked out, saying he read it quite quickly. I said that maybe he could try a novel because it would last longer and he could really get into a story. He said, "I would never do that. It is too boring." I have this conversation often- some kids don't want to read anything that doesn't have graphics, no matter how much I talk up certain novels. Will these be the future adult graphic novel/YA literature-reading adults?
Until I worked in an elementary school (K-5) library, I did not read YA or graphic novels, but I am glad I do now. I like to read books that are geared more toward "adults," but I also like having a quicker read, or something that had a different pace, or relationships I would not find in other kinds of books. I also like being able to recommend books I have actually read to the students. I recently read the YA book Life as We Knew It and I thought the most powerful relationship was between the mother and the teenage daughter, told from the daughter's perspective. I read the graphic novel Real Friends recently as well, and it was a touching story about how hard it can be to make friends in middle school. This is relatable for a current middle schooler, as well as for me, who was in middle school over 20 years ago- I remember those days and feelings. For someone who thought they'd never give YA a chance, I now feel all the feelings when I read some of these stories! Just because they are geared toward young people, doesn't mean they cannot be thought-provoking- that is discounting the feelings of the young. People read books for different reasons, sometimes personal reasons, and it is not up to anyone to decide whether or not they should.
The Bookover article What's New About New Adult? brought up a point with which I agreed- authors like Sarah Dessen and Lauren Myracle are known for YA titles, but are now getting into the New Adult genre. Bookover states that fans of theirs are growing up, being nudged into adulthood by these authors' NA works. (What's New 42) As these older young adults become older adults, why should they be expected to abandon a genre they know they like?
Caitlin Flanagan's encapsulates her feelings about reading YA in her article What Girls Want when she talks about reading Twilight as an adult, "Reading the book, I sometimes experienced what I imagine long-married men must feel when they get an unexpected glimpse at pornography: slingshot back to a world of sensation that, through sheer force of will and dutiful acceptance of life’s fortunes, I thought I had subdued." (What Girls Want) YA can be satisfying for adults for reasons that are totally different from young adults that enjoy YA. Because of this, it is important that librarians do not discount adult readers of the genre. Librarians should keep adult readers of YA and NA in mind, as it is an upcoming trend. NA books discuss many subjects of which older adults can also relate such as "...transitioning to that next stage of life...depression, suicide, drug abuse, identity, sexuality, bullying, incest, fear of failure, independence, and mental illness." (Betwixt and Between 42)
Based on current trends, graphic novels, YA, and NA are genres that are here to stay that appeal to all age levels. Librarians should take note of this when building the collection.

Brookeover, S. (2014). What’s New About New Adult? Horn Book Magazine, 90(1), 41-45. 

Cataldi, Erin. (2015). Betwixt and Between: New Adult Fiction. The Library Journal. Retrieved from http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2015/08/collection-development/betwixt-and-between-new-adult-fiction-collection-development-september-1-2015/

Flanagan, C. (2008). What girls want: A series of vampire novels illuminates the complexities of female adolescent desire. The Atlantic, 108-120. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/12/what-girls-want/307161/